Transcript The Road to WWII - Langley School District #35

THE ROAD TO WWII
Japan:
In 1931, Japan invaded the Chinese province of
Manchuria.
Why?
 Japan wanted to become a superpower, but to do so it
needed access to resources.
 Manchuria was full of the most important resources:

Coal
 Gold
 Oil
 Iron

The Japanese Invasion of Manchuria:
Who was supposed to stop things like
this from happening?


The League of Nations
So what did they do?
 The
League tried to negotiate with Japan, but Japan
simply withdrew from the League.
Italy:
In 1935, Mussolini decided that it was time for Italy to
invade Ethiopia.
Why?
 He wanted to create an empire.



So what happened?
The League imposed trade sanctions against Italy, but
these sanctions did not include
Oil
 Coal
 Iron


Result: The invasion was not stopped.
Mussolini and the Invasion of Ethiopia
Germany:
Hitler, who was watching the Japanese and Italians
expand without getting into trouble, decided it was his
turn.
 In 1936, he ordered the German army to go back into
the Rhineland.
Why?
 He knew the League of Nations would do nothing.
 He knew it would increase his popularity in Germany.
Result:
 He was right. No one did anything to stop him.



Next, in March of 1938, Germany annexed Austria.
Why?
 Germans
and Austrians speak the same language.
 Hitler was from Austria.

Result:
 No
one did anything to stop him.
In the summer of 1938, Hitler began to threaten
Czechoslovakia.
Why?
 Czechoslovakia had been created out of German
and Austrian territory.
 There were many Germans living in Czechoslovakia,
especially in the region called the Sudetenland.
 Most of Czechoslovakia’s industry and fortifications
were in the Sudetenland.

Hitler’s Advances
Result:
 In October of 1938, the leaders of Britain and France met
Hitler in a conference in Germany.
 They agreed to give him the Sudetenland as long as he…




Promised he wouldn’t ask for anything more!
After this conference, the British Prime Minister, Neville
Chamberlain, flew home and declared that, “We shall have
peace in our time!”
So a few months later, in March 1939, Hitler invaded and
took over all of Czechoslovakia.
This British-French policy of always giving in to Hitler in order
to avoid was, is known as appeasement.
The Appeasement of Hitler
He smiled very pleasantly and indeed had a sort of appealing
and affectionate look in his eyes. My sizing up of the man as I sat
and talked with him was that he is really one who truly loves his
fellow-men, and his country, and would make any sacrifice for
their good. That he feels himself to be a deliverer of his people
from tyranny.
- Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King (1937)